[succo]

this discussion is becoming quite interesting... some times ago i found myself thinking about making a 'lot' of xbmc machines for some of my friends and/or for my wife's website users, so started thinking what would be needed for such a system...if we want a real set-top box i think we can forget about standard hardware, but let's say we want something 'comparable' with a set-top box... of course, i started with what i have right now, so based my thoughts on my system

right now i have an evga 630i-7150 with a Q6600 and 2gb ram 667, 300 gb hd, DVD-RW, a DVB-S card and a DVB-T usb stick, all contained in an ahanix d-vine mce303 with integrated remote, vfd and card reader... how does this system go with ultabrutal requests (which i think could be embraced as a standard)?

• Small Form Factor A: well, quite
  
• Silent A: not really
  
• HDMI 1.3a A: Don't think so
  
• Capable of playing 1920x1080p content at 24 fps via HDMI A: yes, but only if i don't put xbmc native resolution at 1080p but go fullscreen 'after' starting
  
• Outputting HD sound formats via HDMI A: No, no hdmi audio support from Nvidia yet, as of 177.70
  
• USB Port a: yes
  
• Gigabit NIC A: yes
  
• Optical drive. Possibly a blu-ray drive for future support A: i have one right now, but NOT in my htpc system (would be unuseful right now)
  
• (Optinal harddrive possible for those who don't stream) A: yes
  

so, what would i do to make it better? i think (again, starting with this hardware as a base) i would change mobo, maybe to go with something based on G45 Express, which would grant me HDMI audio under intrepid (i think not yet under hardy) and (did anyone test it?) 1080p output without skipping any frames, would change the Q6600 with a 'colder' (and maybe a little cheaper) E8400, use a ninja mini as a cooler, maybe in fanless mode (does the mini go fanless?).
this system, toghether with my actual case, would cost somewhere near 500-550 euros... can this be a start?